Cuba and Russia "have taken an important step" in developing and strengthening bilateral relations, which is evidenced by the results of the session of the 8th Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), said a joint statement made here on Wednesday at the close of the session by the IGC Co-Chairmen -- Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin and Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Cuban Minister of Government.
Meetings held within the framework of the IGC session enabled members of both delegations to broaden their idea of the real resources of the two countries, and examine prospects for further development of contacts, the document said. The results of the session "reaffirm Cuba's and Russia's striving for the development of cooperation and expansion of bilateral relations".
Levitin and Cabrisas signed a Final Act on the results of the two-day session of the IGC. The document outlines prospects for the two countries' cooperation in such areas as trade, transport, metrology, education, culture, and sports. The sides agreed that the development of economic contacts must accord with the possibilities and potentials of the two states.
At a ceremony held in conclusion of the IGC session, the members of the delegations of the two countries signed a number of documents aimed at giving greater scope to bilateral contacts. Those included a Protocol on Intentions between the Transport Ministries of Russia and Cuba. The document points out, in particular, that the sides "will make efforts to stimulate and broaden cooperation in the transport sphere in all areas of mutual interest".
On the Russian side, about 100 people, among them experts and businessmen, had taken part in the IGC session, which became the most widely representative of all held in Cuba by the two countries in recent years.